Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and Barnabas Health Announce Anticipated Launch of a New Accountable Care Organization Program

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New ACO for Medicare Advantage Members Anticipated by September 1

Newark, NJ (PRWEB)August 06, 2013

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the state’s oldest and largest health insurer, and Barnabas Health, New Jersey’s largest hospital and integrated health care delivery system, today announced the anticipated launch of an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) program focused on delivering more effective health care at lower costs. The ACO is scheduled to begin September 1.

“As we enter a new age of health care, in which we will be responsible for managing populations of patients, the relationships we establish must share our values of improving the quality, access and efficiency of the care we deliver,” said Anthony Slonim, MD, DrPH, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Barnabas Health and President of the Barnabas Health Medical Group. “Barnabas Health is extremely proud to collaborate with our physicians and Horizon in the implementation of a new health care model that will advance the level of care patients receive throughout the state.”

Accountable Care Organizations are built upon a strong primary care foundation and help create a healthier population, improve the patient experience, and control the total cost of care. ACOs are designed to achieve measured patient quality outcomes and decrease unnecessary and duplicative medical tests and treatments.

Under this ACO agreement, Horizon BCBSNJ will provide care coordination payments to the ACO to take on additional accountability for improving the health, patient experience and controlling the cost of care for its Horizon BCBSNJ Medicare Advantage patients. The ACO and its affiliated practices have an opportunity to share in the resulting savings, provided the ACO meets certain health improvement, patient satisfaction and cost goals.

“Collectively, these accountable care innovations inject a new level of collaboration and quality standards into our health delivery system and help remove wasteful, unnecessary costs,” Albano added.

Horizon BCBSNJ has a number of patient-centered programs, including Accountable Care Organizations, Patient-Centered Medical Homes, and programs focused on Episodes of Care (i.e. joint replacement). More than 320,000 members and 1,400 doctors are participating in Horizon BCBSNJ’s patient-centered programs that are working to improve patient care while controlling costs.

About Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the state’s oldest and largest health insurer, is a tax-paying, not-for-profit health services corporation, providing a wide array of medical, dental, and prescription insurance products and services. Horizon BCBSNJ is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, serving 3.7 million members with headquarters in Newark and offices in Wall, Mt. Laurel, and West Trenton. Learn more at http://www.HorizonBlue.com.

About Barnabas Health
Barnabas Health is the largest not-for-profit integrated health care delivery system in New Jersey and one of the largest in the nation, annually caring for more than two million patient visits and delivering 17,600 babies. The system includes six acute-care hospitals, two children’s hospitals, the state’s largest behavioral health network, ambulatory care centers, geriatric centers, and comprehensive home care and hospice programs. Barnabas Health includes approximately 18,500 employees (making it the second largest private employer in New Jersey); 4,600 physicians (one-fifth of the actively practicing physicians in New Jersey); and 445 residents and interns. For more information, log on to the web site at http://www.barnabashealth.org